If you are on Steemit chances are you know what Bitcoin is.

If you know about bitcoin chances are you don't get to discuss it a lot with your friends because most people are not aware of bitcoin.

This is how I feel but I don't get too worried if my friends don't care about bitcoin. It's their choice.

With Steemit is different. It's still their choice but I know some of them would enjoy it a lot. I don't intent to invite everybody to Steemit because not everyone has the right profile and because we have to assure the content quality. However it's obvious that we have a lot to win by bringing new users to the platform. I'd really like some of my friends to join us because I feel they would like it and they would be great contributors. I feel sad when I think they will never belong here because they are soooo far away of all these opportunities. They don't have a clue.

They have no idea what a Bitcoin is. Never heard about cryptocurrency or the blockchain. If I tell them I get paid to post in a social network they wouldn't believe or would think it's a scam (because they don't understand it).

I'm not an expert or a long time enthusiast of Bitcoin and the Blockchain. I started learning about it 3 years ago and did the usual path. I read blogs, watched videos, created a wallet or two and started experimenting transactions, bought a few euros worth of bitcoin and watched them go up and down (fortunately more up than down). Only recently I made online purchases and got my bitcoin debit card.
But how do I explain everything I know to a friend that asks me to teach him? They think I have a simple answer that I can explain in 2 minutes. I can explain it simply but most of them probably don't understand the advantages of owning bitcoin because they were never interested in learning about money, currency, economy, etc.

My 1st advice - The best time to start was yesterday

You know your friends, I don't. You are able to assess what you should and shouldn't do to guide them but my advice is... if you feel it's ok just have a brief talk and get them started right away. Assist them to create a wallet and offer them a few bucks, they will start checking the wallet daily to see the oscillations and will get curious.
Show them your Steemit blog and wallet stressing how cool it is. Help them start a Steemit account, briefly explain the basics (Steem, Steem Power, Steem Dollars, Reputation, Flags, NO PLAGIARISM, always cite the sources, tags, etc.) offer them a couple of steem and send them a few posts that provide guidance for beginners. Offer assistance to preview their first posts before they post them.

My 2nd advice - Start with graphical information

Reading is fine, watching videos really helps but the first thing you should show/send your friends are good documents with graphics, workflows, lists and other elements easy to remember later.
Here are some infographics I find useful.

1. A simple one.

2. A comparison with known practices

3. How Bitcoin is different from electronic money

4. A comprehensive view

5. How a Bitcoin transaction works (for the more curious)

I hope you find this information valuable. It's only my opinion and may differ from others'. I'd like to know if you have other ideas or experiences.

Good luck bringing them!
RMach